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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/25278358">The Mechanic</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Glitched_Fox/pseuds/Glitched_Fox'>Glitched_Fox</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>SteamWorld Dig (Video Games), SteamWorld Heist, SteamWorld Heist (Video Game)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Angst, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Angst with a Happy Ending, Canon-Typical Violence, Gen, Headcanon, Hurt/Comfort, Post-Game(s), Technobabble, Whump, and then some i guess, full disclaimer i have NO idea what i'm doing, just cling to that comfort part and you'll be good, promise we'll get to that comfort part, there's a gunfight but this is heist y'all know how it goes, tho thats a given in this fandom but</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-07-17</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-08-19</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-05 09:00:59</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Not Rated</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>5</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>10,477</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/25278358</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Glitched_Fox/pseuds/Glitched_Fox</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Fen's broken. That's not new. They get damaged a lot, but... they're not sure they can fix themself on their own this time. Luckily, they're not alone anymore.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>15</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>13</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Chapter 1</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>ok so a few things,<br/>1. i'm not finished writing this so if the u see the chapter count change don't be alarmed; five chapters is a Very rough estimate and i get the feeling it might end up longer<br/>2. this hurt to write i love fen sooo much :( but sometimes you jus gotta put ur favorite character through the ringer yknow<br/>3. idk how often i'm gonna update? i'll try for once a week but idk if i'll actually finish chapters that fast kfdjsdkjfls</p>
<p>thats all ok have fun &lt;3</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Fen’s chest hurt.</p>
<p>It wasn’t the only thing that hurt, but it was the newest pain. Their screen, for example, had been cracked for ages now, meaning static covered a small section of their vision. Their steambot parts didn’t always respond to their signals, leaving them to trip over themself, or struggle to pull the trigger of their gun.</p>
<p>They ducked behind a barrier and flipped open their arm panel to activate their augmented repair. It was simple enough that they could use it between turns, they'd programmed it that way—just flip a switch and press a button, easy.</p>
<p>They leaned back against the barrier. They waited for the usual relief as the electricity mended their wounds, but it never came. </p>
<p>Okay. That was fine.</p>
<p>They’d just… rest for a moment. Maybe it would kick in in a minute. At the very least, they could take a second to… well, they didn’t exactly breathe, but the sentiment was the same.</p>
<p>A gun fired far too close to them for comfort. Their antennae flicked, their screen taking a second longer than usual to switch back on.</p>
<p>“Eyes up, kid,” growled Seabrass, glaring down at Fen from the other side of the barrier. He still held his gun up, the barrel smoking. Fen glanced at the remains of the Scrapper, then to its killer.</p>
<p>They ducked their head. “Sorry, sir.”</p>
<p>Seabrass just grunted in response. “Scrapper on your six, too.”</p>
<p>Not bothering to watch Seabrass clamber up the ladder behind them to get to the loot, Fen reached for their gun—only for their arm to choose that moment to give out, because of course. They didn’t waste time grabbing their gun off the ground (besides, fumbling with their claws would be so annoying anyway), instead unhooking a scrap bomb from the harness typically hidden under their scarf and tossed it over the barrels in front of them. They ducked, covering their antenna in an attempt to limit the sensory input.</p>
<p>(In the back of their mind, this felt vaguely familiar--their visual and audial cutting out like this, with the warmth of an explosion at their side…)</p>
<p>Their systems were back online within seconds, and they grimaced. They liked explosions, they’d been close to many, this had happened before. It didn’t make it any less annoying, and it certainly didn’t bode well that the reboot took two more seconds than last time.</p>
<p>“Fen!” called someone (Piper’s voice, they recognized a moment later) from below them—the deck below? The grabbed the edge of the barrier and pulled themself up, scanning the area for enemies they’d missed and a ladder. “Get down here!"</p>
<p>Ah, yep, there was the ladder. “Just a minute, Captain!”</p>
<p>“Take your time!” yelled back Piper, rather sarcastically. Gunfire punctuated her sentence. Fen mimicked a sigh and poked at their arm, tried to twitch their fingers. Nothing happened. Cool.</p>
<p>“This is fine,” they muttered, stepping over to peer down the hatch around the ladder. They could see Piper from here, crouched behind a barrel as she reloaded her gun. She glanced up at them, eyes narrowed in what Fen assumed was a glare. Scrappers milled about near her, patiently waiting their turn as they took potshots one by one. Fen buzzed quietly in thought and reached for another bomb, but their claws only found empty air. Dammit, did they use their last one? They hated when they happened.</p>
<p>Alright, well. They weren’t about to go scramble for their gun—though, actually, would tossing it down to Piper help? The weight of their blaster was different than Piper’s pistol, but it was still a handgun, so maybe she could dual-wield? Ah, screw it. Fen reached for their lightning coil.</p>
<p>Now, for some reason, the crew had started associating their lightning coil with their bigger rifle. Like they thought it was just the rifle’s name or something. In reality, their lightning coil was just that--a coil. One that rested under their plating, helping circulate power throughout their body. The end of it stuck out through a small break, and usually, they just grabbed it and hooked it to whatever gun they were using. Channeling the power without something to focus it with didn’t sound like much fun, but the sooner they took out these Scrappers, the sooner they could get back to the ship and fix themself. They shifted to get a better angle, then raised their claws...</p>
<p>Electricity crackled and a bolt of lightning shot down and pierce through a handful of enemies, scrapping the front one and sending the others to their knees, the overload of electricity temporarily locking their hydraulics. Piper whooped and shot at the ceiling, letting the ricochet take out the remaining Scrappers. “Way to go, Fen!” </p>
<p>Fen tried to respond, but for some reason couldn't seem to form any words. They felt kinda dizzy and fuzzy, actually. Was this because they used their coil? It didn't usually hurt, but their chest felt even tighter than earlier. They reached up to rub at it, and suddenly, the world went dark.</p>
<p>When their screen finally rebooted, they found themself laying on the ground. Still aboard the Scrapper ship, judging by the pieces of body parts off to the side. </p>
<p>The next thing they noticed was that everything hurt. Their senses seemed off, they weren't totally aware of the movement around them, while at the same time being overloaded with nonsense information. Oh cog, their antennae must've gotten tweaked. There seemed to be a few more cracks on their screen, because now more of their vision was covered by static.</p>
<p>"Fen? You alright?" Piper was kneeling at their side, one hand hovering over them hesitantly.</p>
<p>Fen propped themself up with their good arm. "What happened?"</p>
<p>"Ye passed out and fell down th' ladder," Seabrass said, nodding to the structure in question.</p>
<p>"Oh, is that all?" they muttered. That explained the cracks and their poor crushed antenna. Their Steambot arm still wasn't responding, despite the forced reboot. Experimentally, they started to stand, using Piper for support. "How long was I out?" They wobbled a bit, but managed to keep their balance.</p>
<p>"Few minutes?" Seabrass looked around. “Long enough for us the scrap the rest of ‘em.”</p>
<p>"Cool." No part of that was cool, actually; their head ached and the tightness in their chest had evolved into a stinging, stabbing pain.</p>
<p>"Wonky's got an evac pod ready," Piper said. "Can you walk?"</p>
<p>"Yeah, yeah. I'm fine, Captain." They checked their internal map, pleased to find it intact, and started moving towards the green marker. “You should grab some of those scraps.”</p>
<p>“I don’t understand that bot sometimes,” Seabrass grumbled, scratching idly at his chin. Fen could still hear the two conversing—they weren’t that far away yet.</p>
<p>“They’re limping,” Piper noted, watching her crewmate with an attentive concern reserved only for those closest to her. She glanced at Seabrass. “Did you see them get hit? Worse than usual, I mean.” Fen had a tendency to attract attention, between their shiny silver plating and the strange hum of electricity, but they used it to their advantage. They could dodge like a pro and heal themself, after all. </p>
<p>Seabrass shrugged. “They zoned out for a minute, but I didn’ see anything happen…”</p>
<p>“Hmm.”</p>
<p>Fen adjusted their hood self-consciously, wincing as it brushed against their injured antenna. Cog, that hurt. They decided fixing it would be one of their higher priorities. They were the first in the evac pod and settled against the wall.   	</p>
<p>“You sure you’re alright, Fen?” Piper asked as she climbed in, taking her spot across from them.</p>
<p>“Nothing I can’t fix,” they answered with a shrug. She gave them a cold look, as if trying to figure out what they weren’t saying. They tilted their head, brushing off the pain of the movement for just a moment. “Really; I’m just tired. No need to worry about me, Captain.”</p>
<p>“It’s kinda my job. You make it hard not to, Fen.”</p>
<p>Fen buzzed in response.</p><hr/>
<p>“I think we’ve basically cleared out this section of space with that. Unless anyone knows of any other lingering Scrapper or Royalist ships, we can probably move on from the Outskirts for now.”</p>
<p>“Aw, but I like it here, Cap’n!”</p>
<p>“Don’t worry, Sally, we’ll be back once we’re sure these guys aren’t gonna bother anyone anymore. You agreed to help with this.”</p>
<p>“We did?” Payroll asked blankly.</p>
<p>Piper sighed.</p>
<p>If anyone noticed when Fen slipped out of the bridge area, no one said anything. It wasn’t a conversation that involved Fen, anyway. They couldn’t care less whether they stayed in the Outskirts or not, as long as Piper let them stay by her side. It was nice to have someone who cared about them.</p>
<p>(Whether or not the rest of the crew liked them was still up for debate in Fen’s mind. Just when they’d started to warm up to them, the whole thing with Vectron happened and… well, Fen could understand why the others would be suspicious of them. They were still a Voltbot, after all, no matter how much they tried to prove their independence.)</p>
<p>The repair bay was blessedly silent with everyone else gathered in the bridge. Fen’s broken antenna was overstimulating enough on its own. The doors slid shut automatically behind them, and they reached over to the control panel and locked them. It was a habit, mostly, as they vaguely remembered being concerned about someone finding them vulnerable again… besides, if someone walked in on them disassembling themself, it would just be awkward for both of them. </p>
<p>They glanced over the inventory chart hanging near the door, then busied themself searching for tools. Having proper tools and supplies to fix themself up was nice, really nice. Wonky often lamented about how small and poorly stocked the bay was, but to Fen it was luxurious. Just having a mirror to see what they were doing wasn’t something they cherished.</p>
<p>As much as they wanted to get their antennae sorted out, doing so without both hands would be… difficult. Hm, making a replacement would be one hell of a task, but it would be better than being essentially blind or constantly overwhelmed by input. Well. If they built a functioning hand, they were sure they could do it.</p>
<p>They laid out the tools they’d gathered on the workbench and set to work disconnecting their Steambot arm. They set it carefully to the side once it was off. Hopefully, it was just a wiring issue and not something with the structure itself. Then they could just reconnect it!</p>
<p>They set up the mirror beside them, angled it so they could see into their shoulder cavity, and—-oh.</p>
<p>The circuitry was burnt out, and (more concerningly) the casing of the cables that ran down into their arm was melted, sticking together with the wires. Well, that more or less explained it.</p>
<p>“Yikes,” they said to no one. They poked at the fried circuits experimentally, then hooked their claws under the circuit board, wincing as they started to peel it away. They’d have to replace it, jury rig a connection to their power core somehow. They tossed the fried piece into a bin set aside for unusable scraps and started digging through the bin of salvageable things. Piper and Payroll had thought ahead enough to collect Voltbot scraps as well. They’d never use them, but it was obviously for Fen.</p>
<p>“I should thank them again,” Fen commented, tossing parts they thought they could use onto the workbench. They rearranged their supplies again, procured a blade to cut the melted cabling with (their claws weren’t sharp enough to do it cleanly), adjusted the mirror, and set to work.</p>
<p>Vaguely, they wondered how they’d managed to do this. Maybe this was just what happened because they used their lightning coil in a weaponized way? Still, seeing burnt-out bits inside them was strange. They usually expected frost, if anything. Vectron tech had a habit of being cold, abnormally so. Electricity got hot, and Fen had overheated briefly before when they pushed themself too hard, but in their idle state, they were <i>cold.</i></p>
<p>Now that they thought about it, actually, they did feel a little warmer than usual… it was kinda uncomfortable, actually, but they didn’t dwell on it, too focused on the task at hand.</p>
<p>Finally, after what simultaneously felt like forever and no time at all, they’d finished up all the soldering and wiring, and redid the latches that kept the copper arm in place. The paint on their hand was chipping, they noted idly. They’d have to redo that sometime, once they finished all their repairs.  </p>
<p>Alright, time to see if they did this right. They were pretty confident in their abilities, all things considered, especially since they had the proper supplies this time around. They tapped their chest (it <i>really</i> hurt now) then, not thinking anything of it, sent their systems a command to direct electricity into the reattached arm.</p>
<p>There was a buzz, then a loud popping noise, and the pain in Fen’s chest suddenly flared. It <i>burned</i>. </p>
<p>They could hear what sounded like a burst of static. Was that them? They couldn’t tell. Everything hurt way too much to think.</p>
<p>Their screen flashed and then shut off and, for the second time that day, they collapsed.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Chapter 2</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>uhhhhHHH im so bad at replying to comments but i promise i see and read any of the ones i get and they make my day so thank u guys fdjkdksj</p><p>anyway here is.   more whump. apparently i've got a thing for psychoanalyzing piper cuz here we are again!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>All in all, Piper thought the mission went fine. They’d managed to clear out all the Scrappers, which was great! And then they took some loot, because no one else was gonna use it anyway, right? Fen was acting a little strange by the end of the experience, though. Sure, the Scrappers had been a bit tougher than the last ones they dealt with, but Fen had managed to stay in one piece during the final battle with Vectron. Hell, Piper was pretty sure Fen had been the one to take the last shot. </p><p>But still, Piper was more observant than most of the crew gave her credit for. She noticed the way Fen’s antennae stayed flat against their hood, the way they fidgeted with the paneling on their golden arm, their screen a shade or two dimmer than usual. Something was wrong, but Fen either didn’t notice or didn’t think it was worth it to tell Piper. And here she hoped they’d stopped thinking they were a burden by now…</p><p>They gave her a non-answer on the evac pod (tired didn’t even begin to cover how exhausted they looked), and then Gabriel had distracted her with his complaining. At least Gabriel wasn’t afraid to make it known when something was wrong. She liked that about him.</p><p>“Welcome back, Captain,” Wonky greeted as she walked on. “You too, Fen, Seabrass.”</p><p>“Thanks, Wonky.”</p><p>Sally poked her head up from below deck. She was wearing one of the cowbot hats today. It was lopsided, but she made no move to fix it. “Did’ja get ‘em?”</p><p>Piper nodded. “I think we’ve basically cleared out this section of space with that. Unless anyone knows of any other lingering Scrapper or Royalist ships, we can probably move on from the Outskirts for now.”</p><p>“Aw, but I like it here, Cap’n!”</p><p>“Don’t worry, Sally, we’ll be back once we’re sure these guys aren’t gonna bother anyone anymore. You agreed to help with this.”</p><p>“We did?” Payroll asked blankly.</p><p>Piper sighed. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see Fen starting to inch away. Fine by her. She knew they didn’t care for this conversation, and she was more than happy for them to walk away if it meant they might be going to relax somewhere calmer. They needed the rest. “I hope you’re joking, Payroll.”</p><p>“Yeah!” barked Beatrix. “We’re in this for the long haul!”</p><p>“Blub,” agreed Billy.</p><p>Piper rubbed her face. “I know you’re not getting paid as much as you’d like, so you’re welcome to abandon ship if you want to. That goes for all of you, actually.” She looked up, over all of the assembled crew. “You lot have been through a lot, way more than you signed up for. We’re gonna be stopping at Lola’s soon for a while before we head out again. If any of you want to get off and not come back, I understand and you’re welcome to do so.”</p><p>For a long moment, there was silence. Piper fiddled with her gun’s holster.</p><p>“I don’t think any of us want to leave you, Captain,” said Dora. Her tone was confident. She glared around, like she was daring anyone to argue.</p><p>“Science bot is right!” announced Ivanski. Various sounds of affirmation and agreement accompanied him, most notably a loud “YEEHAW!” from Sally.</p><p>As the din died down, all eyes turned to Payroll. The wheeled bot fidgeted nervously, staring intently at the ground. “I, uh… yeah, yeah. I’d appreciate more pay but…” He took a deep breath, then said very quickly, “I actually have grown very fond of this group, and going back to my old life without you would be very strange.”</p><p>Valentine nodded. “It’s settled, then.” He grinned. “We love you, Piper.”</p><p>Gabriel glanced at her. “Piper? Are ye… crying?”</p><p>Piper hastily wiped oil away from her eyes. “Uh. No. Don’t speak of this to anyone else ever.”</p><p>“Aw,” said Sally, “can’t we tell Fen about all this?”</p><p>Ivanski glanced around. “Where is Voltbot, anyway?”</p><p>“I’ll check the furnace!” Beatrix was off before anyone had a say in her decision. Fen <i>did</i> often like sleeping near the furnace. Something about the warmth. She walked around it, then poked at the coal pile. “Nope, not here!” She was back up the ladder in an instant and gave Piper a salute.  </p><p>Piper placed her hands on his hips, amused. “At ease, soldier. I don’t think we need to worry about them. Maybe they went to their quarters for once.” She shrugged. “Anyway, like I said, we’re gonna be docking at Lola’s in a little while.</p><p>“Shore leave is totally permitted. Wonky’s gonna find somewhere to keep the ship for a few nights, you’re all welcome to stay with him or explore Lola’s or have him drop you off somewhere else. We’re just gonna relax for a bit, alright?”</p><p>Cheers met her statement. </p><p>She meant to check on Fen, she really did, but instead, Beatrix grabbed her arm and dragged her off to help with the weapons arsenal. Taking inventory. And cleaning. Every weapon. Piper was happy to do a bit of grunt work, and even more so to bond with a member of her crew, but the task sure did eat away at her time.</p><p>“I really just don’t know if it’s practical to have a gun that shoots bombs,” Piper commented, looking over the contraption Dora and Beatrix had assembled.</p><p>“I think it’s fun!” said Beatrix. She made a vague motion with the cleaning cloth in her hand. “Besides, I thought Fen might like it.”</p><p>“I see.” Fen probably would like it, and the thought terrified her.</p><p>“I was gonna let them look over it before we took it on a trial run, anyway. They’re pretty damn good at the whole engineering thing, y’know.” She set down the cloth and started reassembling the rifle she was cleaning.</p><p>Piper set down the gun-bomb contraption, and reached for the next thing on the shelf (a Vectron rifle someone had been tinkering with) when a sound like a static-filled <i>scream</i> tore through her good mood. She stiffened, snatching up her favored pistol and turning to the sound. “Fen.” Only Voltbots sounded that static-y. She hopped over the bench to get out of the room, not waiting to listen to whatever Beatrix was saying, already running down the ship hallways.</p><p>She found Dora and Billy outside the repair bay, the former fiddling with the door controls. Billy waved at Piper as she approached. “Blub!”</p><p>“It’s locked?” She glanced at Dora. “From the inside?” The only reason the repair bay had a lock was for quarantine purposes and fires, Fen should’ve known that. </p><p>“Blub,” Billy confirmed. He watched Dora for a moment longer, then reached past her and punched the control panel. The thing smoked, clearly broken, and the doors slid open.</p><p>“Billy!” Dora snapped. “I almost had it!”</p><p>“Blub blub.”</p><p>Piper was the first inside, not caring for her crew’s banter at the moment. There—the workbench was covered in various tools and (Voltbot) parts, and an ovular mirror that sported a brand new shattered pattern. And there was Fen, collapsed on the floor. Smoke curled up from the gaps in their plating. Their screen was off. </p><p>Piper kneeled at their side, hesitating. Smoke wasn’t a good sign in any sort of bot. “Fen? Can you hear me?”</p><p>There was no response. She set a hand on their shoulder cautiously, and almost immediately jerked away.</p><p>Fen’s plating was <i>hot</i> to the touch.</p><p>“Dora!” She pushed back Fen’s scarf, muttering an unheard apology (Fen hated it when people messed with their scarf), putting her hands on their chest. This part was even hotter, which was so viscerally wrong Piper could feel her boiler churning. “Dora, Fen needs help!”</p><p>“Get that harness off them,” Dora commanded as she stepped over. Piper nodded. She fumbled with the clasps (her hands were shaking an awful lot) but managed to get them undone. Dora took one of the tools off the workbench and used it to pry open a panel on Fen’s chest.</p><p>In all honesty, Piper didn’t really understand was she was looking at. Her knowledge of <i>Steambot</i> anatomy ended at reattaching limbs. Fen was assembled differently, with entirely different pieces and structure, generally more complicated. Their circuitry and wiring looked like nonsense to Piper, but she was still able to recognize what something looked like when it was burnt and melted. And judging from the smoke and heat and Dora’s pained expression, it was <i>bad</i>.</p><p>“Help them,” Piper demanded.</p><p>“I’ll do my best,” Dora replied, examining at the sparking circuitry. “Billy, go grab the power cells out of the rifle I was messing with. Looks like their supply burnt out...”</p><p>“Blub?”</p><p>“Yes, the Vectron one.”</p><p>“Blub!” Billy ran off. Piper didn’t watch him go. She was still staring blankly at Fen’s practically lifeless body, her hands pressed against their abnormally warm plating. She hated seeing them like this. </p><p>“Piper?” Oh, Dora was looking at her. Trying to get her attention. Piper looked up, suddenly all-too-aware of how shallow her breathing had become. “Why don’t you go find something to cool them down with?”</p><p>Now, Piper was not an idiot. She was clever. She knew Dora was mostly trying to get her out of the room to have more space to work. That was fine. Piper needed the walk, anyway. A chance to breathe. </p><p>She discovered a crowd outside the broken doors, hovering nervously. She held up a hand to silence their chatter, summoning all her captainly courage to hold it together. “Something happened to Fen. I’m not sure what, or how bad it is, but Dora’s working on it right now. If you lot could stay out of the repair bay—or, hell, entirely out of this hallway—and give her space to work, that’d be great. It’s the best way you can help right now. Understood?”</p><p>There were murmurs of agreement and she sighed, slipping away. Hopefully they’d disperse soon. She’d felt the ship shaking a little bit ago; they’d probably docked while she was distracted. Her suspicions were confirmed as she walked onto the bridge.</p><p>“Billy filled me in over the comms,” Wonky said as she approached, leaning back. “How are you holding up?”</p><p>Piper shrugged. “It didn’t look good, but… I dunno. I’ll stay optimistic for now.”</p><p>“Strong for the crew, you mean?”</p><p>“Can we not have this discussion right now?” She sighed. “Dora sent me to find something to cool off Fen with. You think coolant would work?” She kneeled, pulling out the box from under the controls. “I’m taking some of yours.”</p><p>Wonky glanced at her, but apparently decided it wasn’t worth arguing with the frazzled captain. “Alright, well, I’m not sure coolant will work with their systems. From what I can tell, liquids and electrical stuff don’t exactly go together.</p><p>Having obtained a jug of coolant, Piper stood up. “It’s not like we have ice or anything. Dora’s probably already got something better in mind; I think she just wanted me out of the way.”</p><p>“Oh.”</p><p>She was walking back to the repair bay sooner than she wanted to be, but every moment away from her injured friend’s side was making her anxious. She paused outside the doorway, trying to get a read on the situation before she entered.</p><p>The Vectron rifle was laying on the workbench, disassembled and missing its typical blue glow. Dora was kneeling beside Fen, and if Piper squinted, she was pretty sure Dora was finishing up hooking up the power cells. Billy stood on the far wall, watching protectively. “Stay where you are, Captain,” said Dora. Piper felt it was better not to argue. </p><p>Electricity started to buzz. Dora jerked back as Fen’s screen flickered and turned on. Their eyes glowed dimly as they glanced around, clearly not fully online yet. Piper resisted the urge to run to their side.</p><p>“Hi Fen,” Dora said gently. “Can you hear me?”</p><p>Fen looked around for a moment longer. Then their claws started to shake, and they stammered out, “h-hurts…”</p><p>“I know, I’m working on it—”</p><p>They whimpered, emitting choppy static that sounded way too similar to sobs. They clawed at their chest. Dora caught their arm. “Stop that.”</p><p>“Dot? Please, i-it hurts…” Their entire body trembled and they shifted. Their body spasmed, and then it all stopped. They collapsed back against the ground, screen off, smoke curling from their chest once again.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. Chapter 3</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>i was like "oh perfect i can give the spg crew a cameo :)" and then the majority of this chapter turned out to be with them so. oops. </p><p>anyway the last scene in this chapter kicks off the comfort part of this plot (not that we're Entirely done with da whump)</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“Captain, please. If you keep pacing like that you’re going to wear a dent into the floor.”</p><p>“Sorry,” Piper said, despite continuing to pace.</p><p>Valentine’s hand was suddenly on her shoulder, effectively getting her to pause. “Piper.”</p><p>She gave him a curious glance. The use of her name caught her attention. She hadn’t heard it said much recently, with Fen being weirdly stubborn about it. “Valentine.”</p><p>He took her own hand in his free one and squeezed it lightly. “It’s alright. Dora’s gonna help them.”</p><p>“She’s gonna try,” Piper echoed. Valentine frowned.</p><p>“It’s okay to be scared, you know. Or sad. You don’t have to pretend to be fine.”</p><p>She didn’t respond, avoiding eye contact. Her hands shook, even in his grasp. She could feel bits of her plating getting warmer than usual, her furnace’s fire flaring up from her agitation. "I'm a captain, Valentine. I have to be strong for my crew."</p><p>“You are strong, Captain. Stronger than you realize, I think.” He smiled, softly. “I get it, but strength isn’t just… repressing your emotions all the time. Your friend is hurt, and you’re worried about them. It’s okay.”</p><p>Piper was quiet for a moment. “If I break, then everyone else will too. I don’t want tha—”</p><p>Valentine pulled her close without warning, wrapping his arms around her. “It’s okay. I’ve got you.”</p><p>Piper didn’t know how long she stood there, but it was… strangely comforting. Even if it didn’t change anything, not really—Fen was still in the repair bay, hooked up to the ship’s systems. Dora still didn’t know how to fix them. Piper was still at a loss for what to do.</p><p>“I’m scared,” she mumbled. “I don’t know how to help Fen and it <i>sucks</i>.”</p><p>But, for some reason, admitting it out loud felt... good.</p><p>“I know. It’s alright. We’ll figure something out.”</p><p>She nodded. “Oh—sorry, hang on, Wonky messaged me ages ago.” She pulled away, wiping her eyes, and checked her communicator.</p><p>Rather simply, the message read, “SPG’s at the bar.”</p><p>…</p><p>Thanks, Wonky.</p><p>Whatever; she could use the break anyway. And, hm, now that she thought about it...</p><p>“Hey, Butterbolt, wanna go to Lola’s with me?”</p>
<hr/><p>Piper knew a lot of people, but only in passing. Her so-called connections were mostly shady traders and smugglers—other folk in the same line of work. But, in her humble opinion, it didn’t matter how many people you knew. It mattered <i>who</i> you knew.</p><p>Which was to say, Piper knew Rabbit. And Rabbit was one of the three members of a band popular enough they’d been able to play in Royalist territory despite being Steambots. Rabbit had connections. Rabbit knew people. People who might be able to help, in this case.</p><p>Maybe.</p><p>It was a longshot, but she didn’t exactly have any better ideas. Maybe it would put her at ease, to know that she tried.</p><p>Besides, she wasn’t complaining about an excuse to talk to Rabbit.</p><p>Piper nursed a single mug of water throughout the band’s set, only half-listening to the songs and routines she’d heard countless times before. It was only when the music stopped and the spotlights went out that she tuned back in. </p><p>She walked up to the stage as people started to clear out. Rabbit bounced to the front to greet her, crouching down as Piper crossed her arms on the stage.</p><p>"Hey there, cutie. H-H-Heard you were passin' through my sector, but I wasn't expecting you in this first show o-of the week."</p><p>"Hm, well, I always love to hear you play, you know that." A puff of steam escaped from Piper's vents. She furrowed her brow. "But, I actually have a serious favor to ask of you."</p><p>Rabbit looked into her eyes for a moment, as if trying to judge her intentions, then nodded. "Here, come with me."</p><p>"I need your help," Piper said as Rabbit led her backstage. "It's about Fen."</p><p>The musical automaton thought for a moment as she took a sip of water, settling against the wall. "That's the cute lil' Voltbot o-o-on your crew, r-right? Red scarf, blue eyes, antennae?"</p><p>Piper nodded. "They got hurt, bad. I—well, I’m not entirely sure what’s going on, but it’s not good. Something happened to their power source; their circuitry’s all burnt out. We need a proper mechanic for them, but I don't know anyone who's studied Vectron... who, uh, isn't dead, that is."</p><p>Rabbit placed a hand over her core in sympathy. "A-a-and you think I can help you bec-cause..?"</p><p>"Because, Rabbit, you’re respected across the galaxy. You have connections to people I’ve never even seen or heard of before." Piper spared a glance to Hatchworth, leaving and re-entering as he reset props and equipment.</p><p>Rabbit was quiet for a minute, then sighed. "I'll see what I can do."</p><p>Piper smiled. “Thank you so much. This means a lot to me."</p><p>"I can tell."</p><p>As if sensing the lull in the conversation, The Spine chose that moment to step in. He tipped his hat in greeting. “Captain Piper. Do you mind if I ask a request of you?”</p><p>Piper glanced at Rabbit, somewhat amused. “A trade’s a trade. What do you need?”</p><p>“We’ve been in some close calls lately, surprisingly enough, and I heard that you’ve got quite the arsenal of parts on your ship,” explained The Spine, folding his arms behind his back.</p><p>Piper rested her hand on her hip. “Yeah, from ‘bots we’ve killed. Gotta be somewhere nicer to get parts from, right?”</p><p>“Very few people are willing to keep pieces from Vectron around, Captain.”</p><p>“He’s experimenting,” Rabbit commented, putting air quotes around the statement. Then, noting Piper’s glare, added, “don’t worry, ya can trust him. He w-w-won’t touch Fen or anything.”</p><p>Well, that’s not what Piper was worried about, but… she could trust Rabbit if anything, so she could trust her brother. She nodded at the silver ‘bot. “Alright, let’s go. You’re lucky your sister’s pretty.”</p>
<hr/><p>“We’ve got two bins on the back wall of the repair bay, the bigger one’s got the useable scraps in it. They’re more or less sorta by metal type, but the Voltbot parts are pretty distinguishable anyway.” Piper stopped walking in the hallway, and The Spine obediently stopped as well. She would’ve usually used the pause of fiddling with the door controls to brief him on what was going on inside the repair bay before he saw it, but the with the controls broken (and the doors therefore stuck open), this was the next best option.</p><p>“You heard what I was saying about Fen, right? I mean it. Dora’s got them hooked up to the ship right now, so there's like… they look bad, man. Just warning you now. Please don’t touch them?”</p><p>“Of course.”</p><p>“Right.” She didn’t know why she was so anxious. The Spine was nice, and gentle. Piper liked the guy, all things considered. She trusted him, probably with her life. But, for some reason, the concept of <i>anyone</i> being near Fen right now, when they were so vulnerable and half-alive… She fiddled with her belt, steadying herself before nodding and leading The Spine into the repair bay.</p><p>Piper had seen Fen’s current state a lot over the past day, having had refused to leave their side for the first hour or two until Beatrix all but dragged her out. It didn’t make the sight hurt any less.</p><p>Fen was laid out on the workbench, screen completely shut off. The only real signs of life were the small lights on their torso, flickering dimly every now and then. Their scarf had been removed at some point, folded and tucked neatly off to the side on one of the desks. The real eye-catching part was the panels that had been removed from their chest, exposing their damaged internals. Somehow, Dora had managed to hook up what were essentially jumper cables to them, which fed into the wall of the ship.</p><p>The Spine gave a low hum, giving the injured Voltbot a quick glance. “You really weren’t kidding. Feeding off the ship’s power, huh?”</p><p>Piper nodded, carefully resting a hand on Fen’s shoulder. “Yeah, this way the flow’s constant. Their systems aren’t holding a charge otherwise.”</p><p>The Spine simply nodded, digging through the parts bin. He found whatever he was looking for pretty quickly, and stood up, tucking the pieces under his arm. “Thank you again, Captain. I hope your friend gets better.”</p><p>“Yeah. See you around, Spine.”</p><p>She waited until she couldn’t hear The Spine’s footsteps echoing down the hall anymore to relax. She let out a sigh, steam hissing as it drifted from her vents. She pulled out the chair and sat down, reaching over to take Fen’s hand loosely in hers. “We’re gonna help you, Fen. I promise. I can’t lose any more of my family.” </p><p>Fen, of course, didn’t respond.</p><p>Piper settled back again, and waited for one of her crew to come drag her away again.</p>
<hr/><p>Word had a way of getting around. Especially when that word was from a celebrity. So when a celebrity <i>wanted</i> word to get around, it was pretty easy.</p><p>Rabbit sent a letter to the right person, the letter got distributed until the next right person had it, and so on and so forth. Networking, she called it.</p><p>Point is, when she wanted to find someone, she found them.</p><p>She got the information she needed and sent the coordinates to Piper, and that was that.</p>
<hr/><p>The coordinates led to an asteroid, a quiet one. Piper wasn't sure what it was at first. The equipment set up implied it was a moisture farm, but farms were usually a bit busier. Then again, the small structures did seem like they could house people… maybe everyone was inside?</p><p>The tip Rabbit had sent Piper wasn't much to go off of, just the set of coordinates and the fact she was looking for a mechanic, the latter part obvious enough. Still though, it was better than nothing.</p><p>The sound of someone's voice caught her attention. Her hand flew to her holster on instinct as she turned to discover a blue Steambot peering up at her. Her companion, a rusted looking fellow, stepped back a little, gaze fixed on Piper's gun.</p><p>Slowly, Piper raised her hands. "Sorry; I've been on edge lately."</p><p>The blue one waved her hand dismissively. "It's fine. Happens more often than you'd think. I'm assuming you're Piper Faraday?"</p><p>"Ah, so you've heard of me?"</p><p>The two strangers exchanged glances. "...You could say that."</p><p>Piper crossed her arms. "I don't suppose you're the mechanic I was sent to find."</p><p>The mechanic shrugged. "Mechanic, engineer, medic… we get called lots of things." She pointed at her friend. "He's the smart one. I mostly just do the talking."</p><p>"You're good at mechanics too," he mumbled. Something about his voice was familiar, the little buzz under his words… was that static? Huh.</p><p>"Thanks."</p><p>"Right, well, I was told you might be able to help my friend," said Piper. "They got hurt somehow and we don't know what's up with them."</p><p>"I take it there's a reason you didn't go to a more commonly known medic?"</p><p>"They're a Voltbot."</p><p>"Oh," said the mechanics, simultaneously. </p><p>"It's weird, I know, but they were part of the crew before we even knew Vectron was a thing," Piper explained. "I found them dying in a pile of scrap, and got them a new power source. They don't remember much before that, but they've been disconnected from the hivemind for a long time, I think."</p><p>"Weird. Not bad weird, just… weird," said the blue one. "We can definitely help, though. Volt stuff is sorta our specialty." She nodded to herself, then perked up. "Oh! We didn't introduce ourselves! Sorry about that."</p><p>"No worries. I'm Piper Faraday, captain of the Déjà Vu—but, you know that already." She offered her hand and the blue mechanic shook it.</p><p>"My name's Dorothy and my friend back there is Rusty. Happy to help, Captain!"</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>...yeah so you see where this fic is going now</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0004"><h2>4. Chapter 4</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>I AAAM. ONCE AGAIN THANKING U FOR ALL UR NICE COMMENTS AND SUPPORT i love yall sm</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Piper boarded the ship first, shouting out a quick command to her crew before beckoning Dorothy and Rusty to follow her.</p>
<p>The warmth of the ship was a nice change from the cold space on the exposed asteroid. Piper pointed out people and places as they walked down they hall, and Dot mentally filed away the bits of information for later. </p>
<p>“...and this is the repair bay. The doors don’t close right now but we’re, uh, working on that.” She motioned to the clearly broken controls. “There’s an inventory chart on the wall there, feel free to use whatever you want, just be sure to mark it off. Dora… she’s our scientist, I think she’s asleep right now. She wrote down everything that happened though, um…”</p>
<p>Piper glanced around the bay, searching for Dora’s notes. Dot took the moment to examine the strange bot on the workbench, and the cables hooked up to them. Piper sighed, drawing Dot’s attention back to her as she held out a blue notebook. “Here. Sorry, I’m.. everything's just happened so much lately. I’m tired.”</p>
<p>“It’s alright, Captain. You go get some rest. We’ll take it from here.”</p>
<p>Piper thanked them again and stepped out of the room. Dot waited until she was down the hall before turning to Rusty. She offered him a smile. “So. Ready?”</p>
<p>“As I’ll ever be.”</p>
<p>Dot skimmed the notes, reading the important bits out loud while Rusty dragged a stool up to the workbench. “Yikes,” Dot decided, as she got to the end of the notes.</p>
<p>“Yikes,” Rusty echoed, poking at the chassis of the Voltbot. “All their wirin’ an’ stuff is melted, I think.”</p>
<p>“What’re the cables hooked up to, if their power supply is removed?”</p>
<p>“Uh, the connections where a supply would go. Hey, toss me my journal.”</p>
<p>Dorothy complied, grabbing the book from her bag and throwing it over. Rusty caught it with practiced ease and opened it, flipping through the pages.</p>
<p>“Here, you’re better at noticing details than me,” he continued, setting his journal off to the side on the workbench. “Come look them over while I find parts.”</p>
<p>Dot hummed, glancing over the diagram on Rusty’s open journal. She peered into the Voltbot’s open chest cavity, not… entirely sure what she was looking for. “Yeah, that’s. All pretty fried. Some of its probably functional, but I can’t imagine it feels good…”  </p>
<p>“Like a dent in your boiler.”</p>
<p>“Huh, ouch.” She lifted her head and looked around, locating a discarded soldering iron quickly enough—figured. If a Voltbot were to repair themself, they’d need something like that. She grabbed it, using it to nudge aside internal wires she didn’t trust herself to touch yet. “Uh, most of these circuit boards look intact enough. Probably wanna do some soldering on those at the least, though… hey, what were we calling this? The, like, core.”</p>
<p>“Drive?” Rusty stepped over, setting down a handful of cabling. “Or core, yeah,  that works. Not like anyone’s gonna correct us.”</p>
<p>Dot motioned to the deactivated Voltbot. “<i>They</i> might.”</p>
<p>Rusty snorted. “Well, I say we call their pieces whatever we want until they’re awake enough to tell us we’re wrong.”</p>
<p>“A solid compromise.” Dot nodded. She couldn’t help her smile. She loved it when she got the chance to work with Rusty. It made every task seem fun. “So, this <i>core</i> isn’t usually exposed, right? I don’t remember it looking like this in any of the other Voltbots we studied.”</p>
<p>Rusty tilted his head. “No, there’s… there’s a cooling unit over it, isn’t there?”</p>
<p>“Not on this one.”</p>
<p>“Hm,” said Rusty. “I think we found the problem.”</p>
<p>“Part of it, anyway. An overheated core wouldn’t have caused this much damage. They would’ve just shut down immediately. Maybe fried a bit of their circuitry, but nothing this drastic.”</p>
<p>The duo contemplated the situation in front of them in silence. Figuring out what caused the damage would make it easier to fix it, and prevent it from happening again—a trick Dot learned back when her dad was teaching her the basics of mechanics. </p>
<p>“They don’t have vents,” said Rusty, like it was a sudden realization. Dorothy patiently waited for him to figure out the phrasing to explain. He did this a lot, but then again, she did too. After a moment, Rusty snatched up his journal. He flipped to a new page and started writing. Dot leaned over his shoulder to look. </p>
<p>He scribbled an equation that Dot didn’t want to try to decipher along the top of the page, then started drawing below it, sketching out a diagram. “If the last power source our friend here had was from Piper, then she probably got it from a Scrapper ship. Steambot tech.”</p>
<p>“Heat-based,” Dot finished, the pieces starting to click into place.</p>
<p>“Right. Enough of that was generated that their systems were able to convert it into energy they could use, but that would be… inefficient at best. Better than dying, sure, but still.”</p>
<p>“It wasn’t just their core that overheated,” Dot said, slowly, “their power supply practically melted them from the inside out.” </p>
<p>“Exactly.” Rusty adjusted his bandana. “Only thing that makes sense. They wouldn’t have noticed, not when everything seemed hot to them after Vectron. No one else would’ve thought about it. Check for breaks in their coil, too—Piper said they weaponized it.”</p>
<p>“Think they might’ve electrocuted themself while they were at it?” </p>
<p>“Maybe.” Apparently satisfied with his makeshift schematics, he set down his journal again, taking the soldering iron out of Dot’s hand. He plugged it in, tapping it with his finger experimentally as it heated up. “We can install a cooling system in them. Little fans here, and then a unit over their core. Once they’re cooled off we can figure out how to hook up a power supply that won’t immediately overload their systems.”</p>
<p>“Can I take your journal to show Piper? </p>
<p>“Go for it.”</p>
<p>Dot nodded and grabbed the book. She found Piper at the other end of the hallway, leaning against the wall. Her hat’s brim was pulled down low enough it hid her eyes, her hand tracing scratches along her harm idly. She lifted her head as Dot approached, quickly straightening up and adjusting her hat. “Everything alright?”</p>
<p>“Not yet, but soon.” Dot held up Rusty’s notes to let Piper see. “Basically, we’re just gonna… add some stuff, I guess. Most Voltbots aren’t built to travel outside the colony, and it doesn’t look like your friend was any exception.”</p>
<p>“What’s that mean?”</p>
<p>“Means that as fine as they are externally, internally’s a different story. They don’t have any vents, so the heat just… builds up. And their systems can’t handle it like ours can.”</p>
<p>“Oh.”</p>
<p>Dot tapped the paper. “Don’t worry though; we’re gonna fix it.”</p>
<p>“So… you’re gonna give them vents, and that’ll fix everything?”</p>
<p>The mechanic sighed, lowering the notebook. “The damage is pretty extensive. They might end up with some sort of chronic pain or something similar, but it’ll be manageable. Trust me, Captain, we’ll fix them best we can, but—”</p>
<p>“I understand,” said Piper, catching Dot off-guard. “Thank you.”</p>
<p>Dot rubbed the back of her head sheepishly. “It’s no trouble, really. Like I said, we’re happy to help. I know what it’s like to lose a friend. I’d hate for you to lose yours.”</p>
<p>Piper stared at her for a moment, but weirdly enough, it didn’t feel judging. Finally, she nodded and leaned back against the wall, pulling the brim of her hat over her eyes once again.</p>
<hr/>
<p>The task of repairing the Voltbot was much easier now that there was a plan. </p>
<p>Rusty fitted the fans while Dot worked around the internals, separating the melded cabling and replacing what she could. It was interesting to work on such a strange creature, a test of Dot’s skills. She hadn’t been expecting it, but it wasn’t unwelcome—as long as she didn’t think about it too hard, she was set. </p>
<p>After she and Rusty had gotten on that ship, they had to fix themselves. Rusty, drained of power, Dot covered in dents and scrapes from the battle. Dot’s repairs (though there were a lot) were simple enough, she was trained in repair, after all. Rusty’s were a different story. His encounters with Vectron had changed him in more ways than one, placing circuitry and wiring that neither of them fully understood into his chassis, warping the entire way he operated. They’d managed to figure out the basics, between Rusty’s scattered knowledge and Dot’s uncanny ability to pick up new skills.</p>
<p>When they discovered ships taken over by Vectron, well… the next course of action was sort of a given. Plus, the scouts were wimpy and all too easy to take out with a pressure bomb. Rusty and Dot had studied them. She never really though the knowledge would be applicable anywhere other than when Rusty needed maintenance, but… here they were.</p>
<p>(Besides, Dot hadn’t been lying when she’d said they were happy to help. She really liked being a medic, honestly. She liked being able to help people.)</p>
<p>She hadn’t realized how long she’d been at it until Rusty’s hand was on her shoulder, lightly pulling her away from her work.</p>
<p>She shrugged off his hand. “Hang on. I’m almost finished with this.”</p>
<p>“You need to rest.”</p>
<p>“I will, don’t worry.”</p>
<p>“Dot.”</p>
<p>Dorothy sighed and clicked the circuit board she was tinkering with back into place. “There. See? Done.”</p>
<p>“There’s water on the desk for you.”</p>
<p>She hummed, perking up a bit at that. Her boiler <i>was</i> getting low, now that she thought about it. She stepped over to the desk and snatched up the waiting bottle of water, glancing over the work she and Rusty had accomplished as she sipped at it. “Think we’ll be able to boot them up tomorrow?”</p>
<p>Rusty nodded. He reached over and hit a switch, then the near-silent hum of running fans filled the air. Dot watched, silent, for a moment, examining the Voltbot from where she stood. Her gaze landed on their antennae—they looked off, somehow. She set down the drained bottle and moved back to the Voltbot’s side to get a better look. Sure enough, one of their antennae was tweaked, bent off its joint. </p>
<p>“Aw, that probably doesn’t feel good,” she murmured gently, not sure why she was speaking to someone who definitely couldn’t hear her. “I got you; don’t worry.” She cradled their TV-head in one hand, using her other to push the piece of metal back into place. She’d have to remember to double-check the connections in the morning, and reset their sensors to clear the nonsense data…</p>
<p>For some reason, she didn’t pull away immediately, keeping her hand on the reinforced casing. She traced the cracks along the blackened screen idly. Something inside her twisted, a fresh wave of sadness and regret washing through her. “You kinda look like those teleporters,” she continued. Rusty glanced at her, but left her to her reminiscing, settling down on the ground on the other side of the room. “I never liked those things. Teleporting felt weird. And…”</p>
<p>Her hand fell from the casing, instead coming up to fidget with her scarf. She stood there for a moment, then shook her head and crossed the room to join Rusty. She sat next to him and leaned against him, cherishing the contact with her friend. </p>
<p>“...Do you think Fen hates me?” she asked, quietly, not really expecting a response.</p>
<p>“Of course not,” replied Rusty, immediately. “It’s not like you wanted to leave them.”</p>
<p>“I never went back for them.”</p>
<p>“You couldn’t. Besides, you haven’t stopped looking for them. They can’t hate you for doing your best.”</p>
<p>Dot knew that, but even she needed the reassurance sometimes. She shifted her position to get a bit more comfortable. Rusty leaned into the touch, placing his hand over hers.</p>
<p>“G’night, Dot.”</p>
<p>“Night, Rusty.”</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0005"><h2>5. Chapter 5</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>wow i did not mean to take this long between chapters sorry about that dfkjkldf also school is starting up again for me so i'm not sure when the next update will be but hopefully this is a satisfactory point to leave y'all on for now?</p><p>once again tysm for the nice comments and support!! it rly means a lot to me</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>"Alright, there," said a voice on the edge of Fen's consciousness. "You should be back any second now—let me know when you can hear me."</p><p>Oh, they were awake now. Awake? What… no, hm, they remembered now. They must’ve messed up their wiring, if the power surge had knocked them out. They’d be more careful next time. Fen reset their voice box. "I can hear you," they echoed, pleased when no static crept into their voice.</p><p>"Oh, perfect! Welcome back. Can you see?"</p><p>"Um… no, my screen won't turn on."</p><p>"Thought it might. I’ll get that in a second. Other than that, how do you feel?" </p><p>Fen ran an internal diagnostic, surprising themself when in came back nearly void of errors. The pain in their chest was no longer unbearable, having faded to the dullest of aches. Much more manageable. Their antenna felt fine, too, no longer giving them that constant feedback. Their senses were clear again. It was nice. “A lot better, actually, thank you. Did you fix me?” Were there mechanics who understood Vectron tech?</p><p>“Yeah, me and my friend did.” Huh, so there were. “Hold still and I can get your screen online.”</p><p>Fen felt something against the side of their head, the mystery bot humming thoughtfully as they worked. The voice sounded familiar, in a way that made Fen feel bad for not being able to place it. There was a click and then their screen turned on, jolting them out of their thoughts. They were staring at the ceiling—the repair bay’s ceiling, still, they noted.</p><p>"Where's the captain?" Fen asked. The mechanic was moving around out of their field of vision. They debated the pros and cons of sitting up.</p><p>"In the other room. I'll let her come see you once I'm sure you're stable. That okay?"</p><p>"I guess." They <i>did</i> want to see her, but it made sense why they couldn’t, yet. They would hate to worry her if something else went wrong, anyway.</p><p>The bot laughed. Their feet clicked against the ground as the stepped back over to the bedside. "So, can you sit up for me?"</p><p>Fen hummed, propping themself up on their good arm (though, their steam one wasn't aching anymore—had the mechanic fixed that, too?) before pushing themself all the way up. "Looks like I can," they commented playfully. They reached up idly, pausing when their hand didn’t find the familiar fabric. “Where’s my scarf?”</p><p>“Oh, that’s this, right?” Their antennae twitched, following the sound of stuff being moved on the desk behind them. A moment later, the tattered red fabric was tossed into their lap. They hummed appreciatively, starting to unfold it. The bright red color was blessedly familiar. They wrapped it around their arm, testing their dexterity. Having it on made them feel safe, for some reason. They looked up to thank the mechanic, but paused when they saw her. She looked… familiar.</p><p>"Dot?" Fen asked, before they even processed what they were thinking. That—they knew that name, though they didn’t know why. It felt like home to them, and it hurt that they didn’t know who it belonged to, but—</p><p>"That's my name, yeah," Dot (because it had to be her; Fen had memorized the little imperfections in her facial plating, even if they were just now remembering that) replied, rocking back on her heels. "Everything alright?" She reached out a hand, and Fen grabbed it without thinking.</p><p>They started to say something, but stopped, unsure <i>what</i> they’d even say. Dot’s hand was warm. It was reassuring, despite the way she squinted at them, confused. “I never told you my name,” Dot realized, staring at Fen but not pulling away. She hesitated, then asked, “Who are you?”</p><p>It would be a strange question under any other circumstances, directed to anyone else. But here, now, for once, Fen knew the answer.</p><p>"I am Fen," they said, voice for once devoid of those strange overtones. </p><p>Dot froze.</p><p>"I don't… know how I know you, but I used to, I think. I know you're important to me." They hesitated, thinking. "I know I missed you."</p><p>"I knew it," said Dot, quietly. “You—” she paused, squeezing their hand lightly. “You’re <i>Fen</i>.”</p><p>“You named me that, didn’t you?” They said the fact as soon as it popped into their mind. “I think you did. I’ve always remembered my name. And yours, but…” They let the sentence trail off.</p><p>Dot was still uncharacteristically silent. Fen shifted, scratching at their chest anxiously. “Sorry. I’m just upsetting you, aren’t I?”</p><p>“What? No! Don’t say that.” She caught their arm and pulled it down, preventing them from doing any more damage to themself. “I… I don’t know how much you remember, but I never stopped looking for you, Fen, you know that, right?”</p><p>Their antennae flicked. “Of course. You said you’d come back for me. I guess you did, huh?”</p><p>“Can I hug you?”</p><p> </p><p>“Uh, I dunno, there’s cables hooked up to me still—can I touch those? Is that okay?”</p><p>Dot laughed. Fen tilted their head happily—amusement was good. They just wanted to see Dot smile. “Yeah, they aren’t fragile or anything. Just diagnostic.”</p><p>“Cool.” They pulled at her arm. “Get up here, then.”</p><p>“Okay, okay,” Dot sputtered, climbing up onto the workbench and all but collapsing onto Fen. They pulled her close, wrapping their arms around her. She was warm to the touch, like all Steambots. The feeling was familiar, safe. “It’s weird to hug you,” she said after a minute.</p><p>“Is it?”</p><p>“Yeah, but not in a bad way. You really don’t remember much, do you?”</p><p>“No. I’m sorry.” Maybe this was a bad idea.</p><p>Dot sat back to give them a serious look, hands on their shoulders. “Don’t apologize for that, alright? It’s not your fault.”</p><p>“Okay.”</p><p>She glanced over her shoulder, looking to someone at the door. Fen tilted their head, thinking for a moment—oh, Rusty, that was his name. They should know. Dot was always talking about him, even if Fen themself had only seen him once. They were pretty sure, anyway. She looked back at Fen, drawing their attention back to her. “How much do you remember?” she asked, busying herself by disconnecting the diagnostic cables from Fen.</p><p>“Not much,” they admitted, antenna twitching as they pulled up the corrupted files. “Feelings, mostly. Bit and pieces.” The unwrapped their scarf, starting to arrange it over their shoulders as they talked. “I remember being with you, a lot. It was dark, most of the time.”</p><p>“Yeah, we were down in the mines. Looking for Rusty. You remember him?”</p><p>“Vaguely.” They tugged their scarf up over their head. “I never really met him, did I?”</p><p>Dot hummed as she thought. “No, not really, now that I think about it.” She reached up, helping smooth the fabric around their antennae. “What else?”</p><p>Fen echoed her hum. “I remember being really scared, a couple times. You… you got in a lot of fights.”</p><p>She laughed. “I guess I did. You never voiced your concern for me, though.”</p><p>“I…” They glanced away, sheepishly. “I was afraid you’d think less of me if I was vulnerable. Like, you’d abandon me or something since I was benefiting you much anyway. Silly that I’m saying that, huh?”</p><p>Dot’s expression dropped and Fen froze. Had they upset her? That wasn’t their intention. “Fen,” she started, slowly. “Why would you think that?”</p><p>“Well, in Vectron—” they paused, feeling their screen dim at the thought of that place. “In Vectron, vulnerability was a weakness. We already weren’t supposed to have personality. I was just an error in the system, I guess.” </p><p>“Oh.”</p><p>Fen tilted their head. “You know I don’t worry about that anymore, right? I’m not Vectron. I’m happy to be… Fen.”</p><p>Dot smiled softly, taking their hand in hers. “I’m glad.”</p><p>And then the doors slammed shut.</p><p>“Huh, guess Rusty fixed it,” said Dot, getting up to investigate the controls. She pressed the button to open the doors, but nothing happened.</p><p>Fen giggled. “It’s locked!”</p><p>“Well, what’s the code to unlock it?”</p><p>“If it’s locked from the outside, you can’t unlock it from the inside. And vice-versa.” </p><p>Dot gave them a blank look. “That seems. Unsafe.”</p><p>“Maybe!” They snatched a metal wire off the workbench as they stepped over. “I figured out an override for it the other day though, but I don’t think the crew knows about it—”</p><p>“I didn’t say you were allowed to get up,” Dot set her hands on her hips, pouting at them. </p><p>“I’m fine, Dot,” Fen chirruped, slipping the wire under the lip of the control panel. “I don’t even feel all that different, whatever you did to me—fans, right? I guess I hurt a little less.”</p><p>Dot frowned at them. “You don’t feel colder?”</p><p>“I always feel cold, Dot.”</p><p>“You slowly overheated, there’s not way you were cold.”</p><p>“Doesn’t matter. Still felt cold. Still do.” They shrugged, wiggling the wire around—messing with the sensors enough triggered a reset, which would unlock and open the doors. “Dora says it’s probably ‘cuz I got trauma with the cold, or something like that. I dunno.” </p><p>Before Dot could say anything on that matter, the light on the controls blinked and the doors slid open. Fen chirped happily, abandoning the wire and motioning. “Ta-da!”</p><p>“Very cool,” deadpanned Dot. She crossed through the doorway over to Rusty, bumping shoulders with him. “Nice going.”</p><p>“I didn’t know the locks were separate,” muttered Rusty, only mildly annoyed.</p><p>“They’re pretty silly,” Fen agreed. “Also, hi! I’m Fen!”</p><p>Rusty nodded in acknowledgement. “Rusty. Nice t’ meet you formally, Fen.”</p><p>“Yeah, this is much nicer when we’re not dying.” </p><p>“Hm!” said Dot. “I guess!”</p><p>“I’m right,” said Fen.</p><p>“Man, I missed you.”</p><p>“Oh!” chirped Fen, glancing down the hall. “I gotta introduce you to the captain!”</p><p>“You call her that?” asked Dot, falling into step beside them as they started down the path.</p><p>“Call her what? Captain? Yeah.”</p><p>“Why?”</p><p>Fen gave her a confused look. “Because that’s… what she is?”</p><p>“Aren’t you friends? You know her name, don’t you?”</p><p>“Mhm, Piper. I guess we’re friends. We’re all friends.” They thought for a moment, then softly corrected themself. “Family.”</p><p>“Family,” echoed Dot. “I’m glad you weren’t alone out here, Fen.”</p><p>“Me too. I don’t like being alone.”</p><p>“We all have that in common, huh?”</p><p>Piper caught sight of the trio the moment they entered the bridge. “Fen!”</p><p>“Captain!” Her delight really was infectious. “Hi!”</p><p>“You’re okay! Can I hug you?” She glanced at Dot and Rusty for instruction, which Fen found sorta funny. “Can I hug them?”</p><p>Fen didn’t wait for an answer from the mechanics, pulling Piper close. Hugging her was familiar and as grounding as ever. She held onto them for longer than usual before pulling away, adjusting her hat as she regained her composure. “Glad to see you back online, Fen,” she said, managing to keep her voice level again. “We were worried about you.”</p><p>“Oh! Where are the others?” Fen glanced around, antennae twitching as they listened for the telltale sounds of their crewmates. They peered down the hall towards the weapons stash—if anything, they could definitely find Beatrix there. Or, Valentine was usually near the engine… They paused, glancing between the doorway and Dot.</p><p>“I’m not going anywhere,” Dot reassured. “Piper probably wants to talk to me, anyway.”</p><p>Fen nodded and took off down the hall, shouting over their shoulder, “I’ll be right back!”</p><p>Dot sighed and shook her head as she watched them go, glancing to Piper. “They really don’t know what the phrase ‘take it easy’ means, huh?”</p><p>Piper chuckled. “No, not really. It’s the one order they can’t follow.”</p><p>They shared a laugh and then Dorothy said, “Oh, by the way. My nickname is Dot. Apparently that’s a name you’d recognize.”</p><p>Piper stared at her for a minute as the pieces fell into place. “Right. Fen talks about you a lot, they just… didn’t really remember much about you. They just knew you were important to them for some reason.” She relaxed slightly—Dot had fixed Fen, and Fen trusted her, so Piper could too. “You must’ve been a really good friend if they remembered you despite everything.”</p><p>“It’s a low bar. I was their only friend, and even calling us friends was pushing it for a while.”</p><p>Piper tilted her head, glancing in the direction Fen had gone. “That’s hard to imagine. No one we’ve met hasn’t immediately liked them once they started talking.”</p><p>“They didn’t know many people, to be fair. Also, they were kinda a jerk at the start there.”</p><p>“Really?”</p><p>“Shockingly.”</p><p>“Hm, you should probably give me an overview of what happened with you two.”</p><p>“Rusty and I wrote down a lot of it. I’ll find that notebook for you.”</p><p>Piper nodded, still staring down the hall. “...We should go check on Fen.”</p><p>“They can handle themself.”</p><p>“Oh no, I’m more worried about the wellbeing of my ship than them. They get scary around Beatrix. Too many explosives for my taste.”</p><p>Dot laughed. “Right. Some things never change.”</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>thank u sm for reading! &lt;3 come yell at me on tumblr @glitched-fox/@digital-papercut</p></blockquote></div></div>
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